


The Seeker Compact

by konfoz



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Ben is a Slytherin, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Gryffindor, Hogwarts, Hogwarts AU, Protective Ben Solo, Quidditch, Rey is a Gryffindor, Reylo - Freeform, Reylo Hogwarts au, Seekers, Slytherin, Slytherin Ben Solo, gryffindor rey, reylo au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-23 22:50:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20348134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/konfoz/pseuds/konfoz
Summary: Ben used to be the Seeker for the Slytherin Quidditch team, so he is surprised when Gryffindor's Seeker, Rey, asks for his help a week before the final match up between their two houses.





	The Seeker Compact

**Author's Note:**

> I would like it to be known that I am a Slytherin, but the way I depicted them is similar to how JK Rowling did because reasons.
> 
> That being said, Slytherin is the best house ;)
> 
> Kate (@cosinterference on Twitter) deserves 150 thank yous for being my beta for this story. I couldn't have finished it without your magic touch and grammar skills.

She intercepted him as he was leaving Alchemy class.

“Solo!”

His shoulders bunched up in surprise and he turned around. Right outside of the door, dressed in her regular robes and a Gryffindor house tie, was Rey Johnson. With her arms folded and her right leg propped up against the wall, she wore the usual scowl on her face that’s reserved just for Ben and his house. Half of her hair was down and out of those three buns she always wore.

_ Pretty _. Ben quickly banished the thought before he could go down that rabbit hole.

He walked back in her direction, but she didn’t move or say anything until all the students in the vicinity dispersed. She looked down the hall and then in the classroom to make sure both were empty before grabbing his arm and hauling him towards the stairs.

“Hey, hey!” Ben exclaimed. He was too surprised to do anything but let her pull him along, even though he knew he could easily stop her given his height and build. He stared at the back of her head, a small frown on his face. “Where are we going?”

The only indication that she heard his question was her quickening pace. The grip of her hand on his upper arm warmed Ben’s skin through his robe sleeves and even the tightness of her hold made his heart pound in his ears. It took Ben a minute to notice that they were moving in the direction of the Gryffindor Common Room. Realizing that he wasn’t going to get any answers from her, he stayed silent and let her have her way with him.

When they made it to the portrait, Rey muttered, “Acid pops,” before the Fat Lady got a word in. 

She harrumphed and opened without a comment, but Ben swore that she side-eyed the pair while they passed through.

The sound of the door swinging shut echoed throughout the deserted common room. Everyone was probably at dinner now, and Ben thought that this was likely the first time that Rey had deliberately skipped out on a meal.

Not that he noticed her eating habits or anything.

He stood there dumbly, feeling out of place while Rey scoured the common room and dormitories. He didn’t dare walk around in fear that she’d catch him poking his nose in places where he shouldn’t be, and he imagined the reprimanding glare she’d give him if he accidently touched something precious.

She breezed back into the main area. “Pava is the only one upstairs, but she won’t be a problem,” Rey explained as she cast a quick _ Muffliato _ charm.

He nodded and tracked Rey as she came to stand in front of him. It felt like she was sizing him up, and he leaned back a bit when she tilted her head higher to look him in the eye.

“Help me beat Slytherin in the Quidditch Cup.”

Ben wasn’t sure he heard her correctly, but that fire in her eyes deterred him from asking her to repeat herself. “You do know I’m a Slytherin, right?” He said this almost jokingly, but he really wondered if she’d been hit with an _ Obliviate _.

She looked like she was trying not to roll her eyes. She crossed her arms again, shifting from foot-to-foot. He could tell that she didn’t have much patience today. “I wouldn’t be asking you if I wasn’t desperate.” 

“You didn’t even ask me in the first place.”

At that, she rolled her eyes. “Will you _ please _ help me train to crush Slytherin to bits in the final next week?”

His mind latched on to the training part as he asked, “So you’re asking me to betray my own house?”

She held his gaze, her voice steady. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m asking.”

Ben didn’t even know where to start with this revelation, so he blurted out the first thing on his mind: “But you’re already a good Seeker.”

Before he could mentally berate himself for the slip up, her lips quirked up slightly. “First time you’ve ever admitted that,” she said, but she tore her eyes away to stare at the fireplace to her right. “But I don’t have the same finesse that you have on the broom, and you were always in control of it in a way that I’m not.” Her eyes met his again and she smirked. “I kind of just fly around and hope for the best.”

He knew that what she was saying was only partially true: Rey can be a little impulsive on the pitch, but you didn’t need to be so uptight to be a Seeker. He always made sure to perfect his form and be an extension of the broom, but he had to admit that even though Rey’s technique wasn’t very sophisticated, she had a way of throwing herself into the game and giving it her all.

Which was why he was still thoroughly thrown off by her request. Especially since he wasn’t even Slytherin’s Seeker anymore. “Why should I help you guys win? Our houses hate each other,” he asked, incredulous.

“Because,” she struggled trying to word this correctly, “you got kicked off the team. And you’re not helping us _ win _, you'll just be giving us a little bit of an extra edge.” She steeled herself. “Don’t you want revenge?”

He wouldn’t admit it out loud to her, but he did.

But not for the reason she was thinking.

Running his hands through his hair, Ben didn’t know what to reply in answer, so he switched gears. “You could ask literally anyone else. Wouldn’t your friends be mad that you’re conspiring with your ‘mortal enemy’?”

It was her turn to evade the question. “Listen: I’m sucking up my pride to ask for your help. If you don’t want to then I won’t ask again, and we can pretend that this conversation never happened.”

He could feel her pulling away from him, so he scrambled to say something to appease her. “Rey, you’ve got to look at this from my point of view.” He started counting on his fingers. “Our houses don’t get along. _ We _ don’t get along. You’re essentially asking me to go behind everyone’s back to train you.” He sighed. “Plus, I still want to see my house win, even if I did get replaced. This isn’t exactly easy to wrap my head around.”

She pressed her lips together. “I know this is crazy, but I really want to be at my best for the game and you’ll be getting something out of it too.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “Which is?”

Her grin was almost mocking. “A way to secretly stick it to those jerks.”

His house would turn against him if the members found out, and it wasn’t like he was the most popular person in the first place. On the other hand, this could be the perfect way to show up his ex-teammates, especially after what they wanted to do. There wasn’t much harm in it, although he and Rey would probably get sick of each other after spending ten minutes in each other’s company, so the possibility of their arrangement falling through was very high. And as much as he provoked and teased Rey and her group of friends, he never hated them. He never hated _ her _, despite his house’s aversion to Muggleborns and anyone not on the same socio-economic spectrum as them.

But Ben was starting to realize all the ways he differed from his house, especially after the incident.

“I’ll help you,” said Ben reluctantly, but he plowed on when he saw the hope starting to glow in her eyes. “But you can’t get all defensive and argue with me at every suggestion I make. You are asking me to train you.”

“That’s fine with me. I’ll see you tomorrow at dawn.” She stuck her hand out and when Ben grasped it, she gave him a full-blown smile, one big enough to almost knock him off his feet. “And so from now on, our arrangement will be dubbed ‘the Seeker Compact’.”

* * * * *

By the time that Ben made it outside, the night had almost receded completely. There was still a fog that rolled over the green grass and the hills leading to the stadium, and the Quidditch pitch was wet with dew as the sun began to peek out over the horizon. The fresh air felt nice and cool on his skin, but his eyes were still blurry and stinging from the lack of sleep and the early meeting time.

He shifted the chest he had to smuggle from one of the sheds near the locker rooms and continued to trudge onward, making sure that the bag strap resting on his shoulder was secure.

Rey was waiting for him in the middle of the pitch wearing a Gryffindor practice uniform. Her hair was back in the signature three buns that Ben had come to associate with her, her broom lying next to her on the ground, but the appraisal of her form was quickly squashed by the annoyed look that she leveled at him.

When he was within earshot, Rey said, “You’re late,” in an accusing tone followed by a glower.

“As excited as I am to be doing this...” Ben said sarcastically, setting down the box and his bag on the ground. “Your meet-up time isn’t exactly ideal.”

She began to check her knee pads and gloves, her stance nonchalant. “This is the best time of the day to practice, and this is the only time that’ll work with our class schedules--”

“You know what my class schedule is?”

“--And absolutely nobody can know about what we’re doing.”

Ben opened his mouth to respond but shut it, something panging through his body. The way she said that last part almost made their whole arrangement feel like a dirty secret, as though what they were doing was wrong. In a way it was: he’s helping his house’s strongest opponent, and she’s spending time with her friends’ worst enemy. And besides, it wasn’t not like he had someone to spill his secrets to anyway. Yet he still had to take in a deep breath to dispel the tension in his chest.

Ben didn’t know what to say to that but thankfully, Rey decided that line of conversation was done and that it was high-time to open up the chest filled with the Quaffle, two Bludgers, and the Golden Snitch. But before she could reach inside, Ben slammed the box closed.

“We’re not going to be using those yet,” he said, his hand still on the lid. “For now, we’re going to go through some riding techniques and we’ll see if you listen to instructions enough to level up to using the balls.”

Rey’s body was tense, and a line appeared between her brows. “I know how to ride the damn _ broom _, Solo. You’re acting as if this is my first time playing Quidditch.”

“What did we talk about yesterday?” Ben questioned, pretending to think. “Didn’t you agree that you wouldn’t argue with me?”

Her eye twitched. “You know I’ve beaten you plenty of times whenever we played each other.”

Ben sat on the field cross-legged, his expression composed. He didn’t say anything as Rey watched him get comfortable and pull out a book from his bag. He leaned his back against the chest as she eyed him warily, confusion seeping into her voice. “What are you doing?”

Ben opened the book and began to flip through. “Reading.”

“What?”

“Reading,” he repeated, keeping his eyes on the page but lifting the book up to show her the front cover. “Trying to strengthen my knowledge in hippogriffs.”

Her confused look was a little cute, Ben thought.

“What are you trying to get at?” Rey asked, frustrated.

“Nothing, I just really want to read_ the Handbook of Hippogriff Psychology _, since I have nothing better to do.”

Rey fumed and her teeth clenched together as she burned a hole with her eyes into the side of his head. To Ben’s credit, he kept his eyes on the page, even though it was really hard to ignore her when she was giving him a look like that. 

Although the wetness from the grass was starting to seep into his jeans, he knew his charade was worth it when Rey huffed and threw her hands into the air. “Fine! We’ll do it your way!”

After more grumbling and a few exchanged quips, they finally set about their practice. Rey flew low enough on the ground for Ben to make comments, which he appreciated that she took into account. Watching Rey ride on the broom was a spectacle. She was perfectly passable on it, Ben admitted, but he kept having to make corrections to her form and her weight placement.

“You’re leaning forward too much.”

“Get lower on the broom.”

“Tuck your knees in more.”

And that was how it went on for days. Even though they didn’t even get to training with the Snitch until the fourth day, Rey didn’t complain and Ben tried not to push her buttons too much.

It was even going pretty well, in Ben’s opinion. They were civil enough that they were actually getting in real exercises. Although, on day two Rey did try to send a Bludger on him after he made a comment about her attempts at ducking.

Now, with the Snitch released, he was able to watch her in action and put some of their training to the test. He’d gone up against Rey many times in the years when he was on the Slytherin team, but he was too focused with his own goals then to pay full attention to her. But now, out in the open pitch by themselves with just the Snitch, Rey in the air and Ben on the ground, he was beginning to see why she became Gryffindor’s Seeker at such a young age.

She just had it. There was something about the way Rey flew and moved on the broom that had Ben enraptured; she really was a natural on it. While she did have some issues that needed tweaking, now with those issues were fixed he could understand why many people called her a Quidditch prodigy. 

The final was in three days and Ben started to worry for his own house’s chances at clinching the title if they were going up against the newly-retrained Seeker.

Rey was lazily roaming the air now, her eyes sweeping the skies for the golden ball. Her eyebrows were drawn in concentration, but her grip on the handle of the broomstick was relaxed. With the breeze flowing around her and through the loose strands of her buns, Ben could really see the picture-perfect image of the young, pretty Quidditch player.

Ben snapped out of his appreciation when Rey did a one-eighty degree turn and zoomed after what he assumed was the Snitch. From his position on the ground, he wasn’t able to get a good view on it, but he didn’t mind as long as he was able to watch Rey.

It was like a game of cat and mouse between Rey and her target. Ben followed her with his eyes as she flew near the Ravenclaw tent. A small smile played on his lips--she was remembering the instructions Ben gave her. When she slowly brought up her hand to reach for the Snitch, the ball quickly dove below. Fear gripped Ben’s chest when she swiped and missed, losing her balance, but she was able to right herself and keep her eyes on the prize.

They were still well above Ben’s head, but they were getting closer and headed in his direction at a frightening speed. Rey’s face was almost completely above Ben’s, her angle so sharp that Ben worried about the pace and the strength of her chase.

He tried to get her attention by yelling her name, waving his arms, telling her to slow down, but she either didn’t hear or she was too determined to capture the Snitch. At this point, Ben began to panic and continued shouting. 

The Snitch was headed right for him and right on its heels was Rey.

Before Ben could move out of the way, the Snitch changed directions at the last second. Ben’s eyes locked with Rey’s, his filled with alarm and hers with anticipation, but when she saw what was about to happen, her eyes widened. Rey’s momentum was too great for her to pull up or swerve.

She smacked head-first into Ben.

The pain was acute at their point of impact but Ben didn’t even feel it until they tumbled on the grass and stopped on the ground. His head and body ached and it was difficult for him to open his eyes. He clutched his head. It was pounding like a bad migraine and he wouldn’t be surprised if he got a concussion.

When he was finally able to get some of his bearings, he realized there was a weight on him, groaning. He lifted his head slightly, and the sight in front of him made the pain disappear for one fragile second.

Rey was laying on his chest, rubbing at her forehead. Her entire body fitted to the length of him, and Ben was too terrified to move and make any sort of indication that she was _ fully on top of him _.

She blinked quickly a few times, wincing. When she tried pushing up, her situation finally caught up to her. Her hands were on his shoulders, and her legs were intertwined in the grass with his.

Their faces were so close together that Ben was drawn to the green in her hazel eyes and the sprinkle of freckles on her nose. He took note of the red of her cheeks and the rosy hue of her lips, as well as the smudge of dirt on her cheek from their collision. With bated breath, he slowly raised his thumb to wipe away some of it, the nerves of his fingers igniting at the softness of her skin.

She was staring at him with something akin to marvel in her eyes but when Ben’s thoughts caught up with his actions, he felt his ears flame.

His eyes caught on to movement behind Rey’s head, and when his eyes focused he realized that the Snitch was hovering right above them, almost as if it was _ mocking _ him.

If Golden Snitches had facial expressions, he was sure that this one would be smiling in triumph.

Rey broke their position first, using the ground on their sides to hoist herself up. Ben let out a breath of...relief? Disappointment? He wasn’t quite sure. It took him a second to see the arm that Rey had extended to pull him up.

He grabbed it and then muttered a soft, “Thanks,” when he was back and grounded on his feet.

But how could he possibly _ feel _ grounded after what just transpired between them?

At this point, he was able to quickly swipe the offending Quidditch ball from the air and place it back in the chest. As he examined some of the dirt on his robes, he saw Rey pick up her broom. Thankfully, it was completely intact or else they were going to have another problem on their hands. He saw that her cheeks were a little pink too, so Ben grabbed for anything to dispel the awkward tension. “So, tomorrow you think you want to try letting the Bludgers lose?”

It did the trick. The tension in her body loosened and the bright grin she flashed him was answer enough for Ben.

* * * * *

After their last practice ended, Ben walked up to Rey as she threw her bag over her shoulder.

“Let’s go get some Butterbeer. My treat.”

She paused for a second, then hefted the bag higher on her shoulder. “Really? How would we even get off campus?”  


He was elated that she didn’t flat-out refuse him, but he tried to hide it with a casual wave of his hand. “There are perks to having connections with the Headmaster.”

Instead of the scoff she would have given him in the past, she actually chuckled. “You mean your mom?”

“Details, details.”

A small smile graced her face. “I’ll meet you in the Courtyard in thirty. I need to shower real quick and change if that’s alright.”

He nodded. “Of course. See you then.”

Ben watched her walk back to the main castle, her broom under her arm, and he followed a few minutes later once he packed away his things and returned the Quidditch balls to their shed.

As soon as he entered the castle, he ran straight into the Slytherin Quidditch team.

“Well well, if it isn’t our old friend Solo,” said the Slytherin Keeper, Rennik.

Ben’s lips thinned and as he tried to move past them, he was stopped in his tracks by the Beaters, twins Edric and Elna. Although he was bigger than both of them, he knew that they wouldn’t leave him alone until they said what they wanted to say.

Ben sighed. “Pleasure seeing you all again.”

When Hux stepped forward, Ben was pleased to find that the usual envy he felt in the ginger’s presence was gone. Hux was the one who took over the Seeker position after Ben was kicked off and he had been on Ben’s heels even when he was still on the team.

“Where were you Solo? Have you been playing Quidditch by yourself to relive your glory days?” Hux and the rest of the team broke out into jeering laughs.

Ben stayed silent. He didn’t want them to have an inkling about his real business on the pitch, so the less he said the less they would catch on to what was really going on.

Hux smirked. “Too bad you're going to be on the sidelines, watching as we bring Slytherin the recognition we deserve.”

“With Slytherin’s second choice? And without your knack for dirty tricks? I doubt it,” Ben said before he realized that the words left his mouth. He really didn’t want to open that can of worms again but he loved rubbing it in Hux’s face that he was and always will be the team’s second-choice candidate for Seeker.

Hux went red and sputtered, “You will always be a disgrace to our house. We could have cursed that bitch Johnson and her fucking little gang of Mudbloods if you didn’t go crying to mommy.” He leaned close, his face inches from his. “You better watch your back, Solo.”

As they walked away, Ben waited until they were far enough so he could cast a quick knee-reversal hex on the Slytherin Seeker. He turned his back before he could see the damage, but he heard the squawk of indignation and yelps from the others that told him that the hex landed true. It’s a harmless and easy charm to cure, but it’s enough to bench Hux for the rest of the day before the big game tomorrow.

When Ben turned the corner, he ran right into Rey. “What did Hux mean by that?”

Ben gaped. “What?”

A weird look passed over Rey’s face, but she repeated her question, “What did Hux mean when he said that he could have cursed me?”

“I think you heard wro-”

“Tell me.”

Ben ran his hands through his hair and looked around. “Can we talk about this someplace else?”

Someplace else turned out to be the top floor of the Clock Tower. From this building, Ben had a clear view of the training grounds and he kept his eyes on the moving brooms rather than on Rey’s expectant face.

He knew that she was waiting for him, so he took a deep breath to begin. “A few days before our final matchup last year, our team was sitting in the Great Hall to talk about your team and your weaknesses.” He paused to glance at her, and finding her eyes on his, he looked away again to stare at the glass window, unfocused now. “Someone brought up your name, and--” Ben clenched his fists “--Hux got the idea to cast a curse on you, in order to ‘level the playing field’.” There was no way he could look at her now even if he wanted to. “Some members of the team suggested small hexes--they were looking for ways to mess with you a little bit--but Hux convinced everybody that the only way to secure our win would be to get you out of the game entirely, that we needed to do more than just scare you.” His teeth flashed in a snarl, eyes blazing. “Hux wanted to use the Imperius Curse on you.”

The woman in front of him wasn’t making a sound, so Ben took that as a cue to continue. He doubted that he could have stopped anyways, now that it was all out in the open. “I didn’t think he was serious at first, but then he started coming up with plans to intercept you when you were alone.” He swallowed, and Ben held on to that familiar fury inside of him, the one that threatened to consume him and fester into something horrible. “I knew I had to do something when he began to imply that the Cruciatus Curse wasn’t out of the question either.”

At this, Rey’s breath caught but Ben paid her no mind. He was too far gone in his fury and it felt like reliving that day all over again. “I went to my mom. At first she didn’t believe me, but when I kept pushing the issue she started to catch on. She called for Professor Snoke, and he began to defend the team right in front of me.” His teeth started to hurt from how hard he was gritting them against one another. He wouldn’t have been surprised if the Head of Slytherin was the one who planted those ideas into Hux’s mind.

It was in that room, watching Snoke barter with his mom, when he realized that he would probably lose his position as Seeker, and Snoke would make his life a living hell for selling out his teammates. But Ben was surprised to find that he didn’t care.

Because Ben had no proof that Hux was intending to use any of the Unforgivable Curses on Rey, Snoke framed it as if the team was planning on just hexing her as a sort of “hazing” ritual, “all in good fun,” he said. Leia wanted to cancel the game and kick Hux off the team, but Snoke vocalized some thinly-veiled threats about funding and how Hogwarts relies on the donations of Hux’s family. So it was decided that Hux would have to sit out, but the game could go on. 

As soon as he left the Headmaster’s office, Snoke had fired him on the spot. The professor barely said anything before he slithered away but Ben still felt a shiver go down his spine.

After he finished explaining himself to Rey, he finally deigned to look at her. Her face was impassive and he had to admit that he was scared what her reaction would be: Angered? Disgusted? At who? He really hoped it wouldn’t be him but he didn’t expect _ nothing _from her.

The urge to turn away was too strong and panic was building in his chest but a hand on his cheek stopped him from spiralling completely. He flinched at the contact and began to move back but Rey’s other hand came up to cup the other side of his face. Her gaze was soft as a small smile formed on her lips. Although he was a good bit taller, he felt smaller than her in that moment.

“The explanation that you getting kicked off because of your temper was fake.” 

She didn’t say it like a question, but Ben nodded anyway, too skittish to make words come out of his mouth. That blazing resentment he felt before was completely extinguished now, the feel of her smooth palms on his cheeks making him want to melt away like snow in glowing light.

He’d do anything to stop time and stay like this.

Rey eyes sparkled in the morning sun coming through the Clock Tower and Ben was transfixed when she leaned forward to press her lips to his. It felt like first impressions and coming home and reassembling all at once, and the rush of contentment that engulfed Ben convinced him that nothing else mattered than this moment together--not the game tomorrow, not Hux, not his house or hers, nothing. He swore his heart would dissolve out of his chest and seek comfort in her arms, her hands, her lips.

When she pulled away, Ben was dizzy with desire. He grabbed her wrists, pulling her hands from his face to envelope her into a hug, with his head on top of hers and his arms around her shoulders. Her arms snaked around his waist, her nose pressed against his chest and breathing in the scent of the cotton of his shirt, of grass and soil, and his cologne.

After a few moments, she tilted her head up with a tender look on her face, her chin resting on his chest as she lifted herself on her tiptoes to unite them all over again.

* * * * *

When Rey sealed the win sixteen minutes into the game, rather than join her elated teammates on the ground or even celebrate with her cheering house, she flew right up to the Slytherin tent, kissed Ben soundly on the lips in front of everybody, and pressed the Golden Snitch into the palm of his hand.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on Twitter: @b00kwormy


End file.
